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Exalted Session 67

What Price Victory?

19-22nd Resplendent Air RY769

So, our brave heroes are returned from a major victory against the forces of the Underworld, but the war is not yet won. To win, they must drive out the Deathlord from her Shadowland.

“But how will we stop the Deathlords returning, with greater armies?!” Shizu asks

“Fear of this fully operational Giant Robot Head will keep the Deathlords in line” boasts Brand, Tarkin-style.

Discussions of how to proceed are ongoing- they want to use the discovery of the Princess’ weakness (her aversion to sunlight) to their best advantage. Yet her Artifact parasol and its infernal bells seem to summon up clouds and bad weather that blot out the sun. Shizu isn’t sure she can steal it from the Princess as long as it remains attuned to her.

Brand suggests stealing the sound from its bells, but short of learning some Sidereal charms or breaking into the Loom of Fate to monkey around with reality, Shizu is a little sceptical. Far easier to steal the umbrella or fill the soulsteel bells with treacle or something than steal sound itself. Why that’d require some crazy Wyld environment, or some god of utter silence…

By.. the GODS…

A terrible thought occurs to Shizu. The darkest blasphemy that would make a Demon Prince blanche and run screaming. A power so reviled that no Deathlord or monster would even touch it. Something that only the most degenerate or psychotic could ever enjoy. If the other Watch members ever found out about, she’d surely be cast out instantly, shunned for all time.…

There is a god of such silence. A Nameless God, abhorred by all right thinking people. Who is silence. Whose name is “….”

But dare Shizu invoke the dread power of Mime? Even to quiet the unholy bells of the Princess Magnificent? Are some prices simply too high to pay?

(OOC Shizu  “Think of it as the lesser Evil!” 

OOC Rav- “Mime as the lesser evil- Is it <i>really?” </i>)

In the meantime, the others make preparations. Brand considers that if the eyebeams of the Giant Robot Head isn’t enough to punch through the ever-present clouds then they’ll have to reflect it from outside the shadowland. Some convincing (and melting down a heretical 5-armed golden statue of the Unconquered Sun) later, he embarks on an ambitious project to make shield size mirrors. Lots of them. 500 in fact, all fitting to the interior of an Imperial Legionary’s tower shield. These parabolic mirrors might be the key to victory. And he only had to promise the Solarians (who donated the gold and mirrors) that he was going to leave the Giant Robot Head to them.

Talking of which, while Brand isn’t around, Alana starts becoming a little nervous of the Giant Robot Head. For a start, its eyes seem to be following her. Though everytime she spins around to look, they don’t seem to have moved. And she could have sworn it said

“Primary Directive- Uphold the Law!”

“Secondary Directive- Fight Evil and Serve the Public Trust”

“Tertiary Directive- Classified. Classified. CLASSIFIED. CLASSIFIED! CLASSIFIED!!!!”

But Brand nonchantly assures Alana that it couldn’t possibly have spoken (circuits from its voice box now adorn his Buff Jacket) and he’s got its soulgem right here. (Though he does wonder if Alchemicals might have backup soulgems hidden away somewhere else. Surely not.)

Rav keeps an eye out for Abyssal attacks, but after a flurry of recovery activity, the shadowland settles back down again. Clearly the forces of Death are dismayed by the sudden loss of their flagship and its thousands of re-inforcements and adopting a more defensive posture.

Rav does spot a dust cloud on the horizon, and investigating finds the Mahdi and his army of fanatical desert nomads. Though they have ridden hard from the Far Pole of Fire through sandstorm, thirst and privation, the Mahdi as ever has immaculately shampooed and conditioned hair, Lorenzo Lamas-style.

The Mahdi is happy to have come at last to the Promised Land of Solaria, and while shocked that the Realm still has forces here, agrees that the Shadowland and deathlord is the greater enemy. His forces will arrive in Solaria Minor proper on the 22nd.

Montage- 20th Resplendent Air RY769

Shizu paces back and forth in her private room, caught on the horns of a dilemma. At last determining that there is no other way to steal the unholy sound of the Princess Magnificents umbrella bells, Shizu decides to pray to “….” God of Mimes.

(Meanwhile the rest of the Watch Exalts are trying to waken the Captain who is asleep in the gutter once more. He is strangely resistant to being awoken, but his sleep seems most disturbed, twisting and thrashing)

So, settling to her knees she mimes escaping from an invisible box. In the mime-mentality, she mimes a prayer, first clasping hands and looking upwards to Heaven in beautous adoration. Then sashaying around, miming a twirling umbrella, she mimes picking the invisible bells from the invisible umbrella, while miming the “Ssshhh” sound with a forefinger to her lips. All in perfect silence.

(In the gutter the Captain becomes to moan and shout, his thrashing intensifying- his huge golden Smashfist rending great divots in the ground and sewer! “No… No… Evil.. Aargh!” he sleep-mutters)

Around Shizu the silence seems to deepen, the sounds of the outside fading away. Or perhaps it is silence, flowing into the room? And with it, some channel of power from that most dreaded of the Nameless Gods… Shizu is channelling “….” Becoming for a moment an Avatar of the God of Mimes… A True Mime.

( “THE MIME COMETH! THE MIME COMETH!!!!” screams the Captain in his sleep as Rav tries to restrain his flailing terror)

Experimenting, Shizu pulls out an invisible rope and throws it up to the ceiling. It catches. She Mimes pulling it. Its tight and held fast. So, silently and alone she Mimes climbing up it. Soon she is face to face with the ceiling!!

But even as she hangs from her invisible rope, her faith wavers a little as she imagines the reaction of what her friends would say if they could see her now. The rope falls away, and she lands on her ass, sound returning to the world again, her Avatar channel slipping away.

The Parley – 21st Resplendent Air RY769

Rav (circling up in the desert) spots a figure at the edge of Solaria Magnus waving a black flag. A few moments later, its hastily replaced with a white silk hankerchief. It’s the Lord of Silent Repose and he wants to parley. The parley is accepted (under the Elder Accords, the immortal powers of Celestial Exalts, Gods, Malfeas, Underworld and Wyld recognise the diplomatic status of both Eclipse and Moonshadow Exalts) and Shizu, Rav and Alana meet the Lord of Silent Repose at the halfway point between Solaria Magnus and Minor. He offers a truce to “end this devastating conflict- each side has its city- let us divide Solaria down the middle and live (or die) in peaceful harmony” . Rav says “Bollocks” . He says that an Abyssal retreat is not an option, Alana states with conviction that the shadowland and Dead must go (non-negotiable). In one last desperate offer, the Lord of Silent Repose offers a phased withdrawal- The Dead will hold Solaria Magnus for 5 years as long as they have access to the road to the north (leading to the Lap). At the end of that time, they will have left the city and country and the Shadowland will retreat back into the Underworld. All without another Solarian life being lost or zombie created?

“No deal” is the consensus. And so its back to War!

The March – 22nd Resplendent Air RY769

Mustering their forces, the Exalts decide that now is the time to press their advantage (as the Abyssals are clearly stalling for time). The Solarian strategy will be to advance on the city and try to draw out the Abyssals- if the Abyssal circle can be eliminated, then battling the Deathlord might just be a winnable proposition. Trying to battle the Princess Magnificent with the Abyssals hacking away at the Circle would just lead to a painful death, especially since Alana swore “Never use her Charms, abilities, anima power, raise a blade or publically speak against them” .

With the Mahdi and his fanatical desert nomads expected some time later in the day, the forces of Free Solaria set out- they consist of

4 Celestial Exalts Cathaks Aron & Anaria (who insist on accompanying Alana) McCathaks Bella, Boone and Bannion Team Ledaal (Takei & Hoshi) 5 Dragonblooded Ledaal Legionaires 1,000 Tiger Warriors (Alana’s Army) 5,000 Imperial Legionaires. 500 of whom have mirrored shields 2 Yeddim-mounted Essence Cannons.

They face the following Forces of Evil in their shadowy place of power-

A Horde of Zombies (mostly squashed) An Army of Ghosts (mostly pissed off) An Abyssal Circle (depleted) A Deathlord (irked)

Before departing, Brand privately questions Shizu on the vital element of the plan- can the Night Caste silence the Princess’ Bells long enough to part the clouds and allow a ray of sunshine?

“I’ve got a plan. Might not be a very good plan” admits a nervous Shizu.

“We don’t have time for ‘might’” snaps Brand “Either you can do this or you cant and we call it all off until we have a Plan B. Now whats your plan?”

Shizu mimes.

Brand reels back in horror! Shizu miming, Alana crazy-talking about Giant Robot Heads talking and watching her, Rav parleying with the enemy, the Captain still dead-drunk. Nascent and Grace AWOL! Its all too much. He’s got his back to the wall, trying to fight an immortal, near omni-potent Deathlord and he’s the only sane one left! And MIMING! By the Sun, people who do that should be hung in scorpion pits!

Its all too much for him and he Limit Breaks into Deliberate Cruelty.

The Challenge

Reaching Solaria Major, Rav goes into stealth mode and flies through the streets of the crushed Necropolis. Unseen by the Dead, she senses ghostly ephemera flowing towards the perimeter, war ghosts ready to repulse the enemy. And striding down the rubble-lain streets are 4 figures of white complexion and black clothing- the remains of the Abyssal Perfect Circle-the Maiden, Lord, Knight and Voice.

They climb a small ruined gate tower and the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile calls out-

”LET US SETTLE THIS QUICKLY! SEND FORTH YOUR CHAMPION AND LET SINGLE COMBAT DETERMINE THE VICTOR THIS DAY!”

The Solar reponse? Brand nods to the Yeddim-mounted artillery and targeting the Abyssals hisses “Fire the Essence Cannons when ready…”

Inside, something snaps within Shizu. No danger can daunt her now. No invitation to certain doom will be declined.

Shes in the perfect mood to Mime.

In Public!

So Ends Session 67

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